Chosen
by Feebasbellaswan
Summary: Every 20 years, 100 humans are gathered in the Volturi castle for what they think to be a tour. One vampire if picked to feast on every one of them, but when Edward Masen comes across the one whose blood sings for him, will he be able to kill her and move on, or make something of the one person who changed his feelings from thirst and hate? Will be continued after Realms of Tamriel
1. Prologue

**Short intro to this fanfic based on a dream I once had. Creepy, right? This one will be written when both Outcast and You have me are finished. Enjoy these 411 words while I finish the other two fanfics XD**

* * *

**Prologue**

She was it for me, and they were threatening to kill her for what I'd done on that faithful day those mere weeks ago. I ran with her, from that sunny and compromising place to were these types lived. In the dark, dank and rainy place where no one would find them.

They couldn't kill her when she was like this, could they? Carlisle had informed me that him and Aro were good friends, once upon a time, but if Aro still respected that friendship was the question on our minds. We were out hunting, searching for our closest prey before draining the blood from them. We didn't need to hide and sneak around while we hunted. We were faster than everything in this forest, and would catch up to any frightened animal, but this way was more fun.

She was sucking the life from a doomed Elk, the blood dripping onto the silky blue dress Alice had forced her into. Her chestnut hair was tangled and messed on her head, making her allure that much more powerful. Her eyes had escaped the deep brown that they once were, but were now a vivid red, caused by the human blood that lingered in her tissues.

She looked up at me and giggled. One of the things that hadn't changed about her since I'd injected my venom into her, was her beautiful laugh. She threw the carcus into the nearby bushes and bounded up to me, throwing her arms around me.

"I didn't do too well, did I?" She asked, peering down at the blood stains on her dress.

I shook my head and chuckled. "You were perfect. You always are."

She rolled her eyes at my statement. "Always so cheesey. Will I ever get used to it?"

I shrugged. "You have awhile to."

She sighed. "That depends. Do you think that they're there now? Shall we go back?" Her question caught me off guard. Of course I knew that we would have to return back at the house for the Volturi's decision.

I reluctantly nodded, and took her hand. We ran towards our fate. We both knew that if Aro's choice was the one we were dreading, I would follow right on after her. All those weeks ago, I now see that I was so lucky to be chosen. If I wasn't, Bella wouldn't be with me right now.


	2. Bloodshed

**EPOV**

Around me were tall trees, shedding their amber and scarlet leaves in preparation for the winter that was to come, the sky an icy blue as the sun set. I couldn't really feel the chilliness of the cold October air as it blew past me whilst I ran, but the effects were obvious to the eye. I was heading towards the city of Seattle in Washington to find my next meal, and since the place was filled with unnoticeable people, it was ripe for the picking. The less conspicuous the victim was, the less attention would be drawn. Passing a herd of elk as I ran, I was reminded of the 'vegetarians' that lived in the area, and I snorted. How could they live with that sort of diet? Animals were dull and boring, whereas hunting humans was thrilling, and the adrenaline pumping through their veins as they ran from you made their blood even more tangier.

My name is Edward Masen, one of the usual nomads that roamed the US. My parents had both been killed during the first wave of the Spanish Influenza in 1918, and throughout all of the commotion, my sire figured that turning another dying human into a vampire was a good idea. I couldn't remember his name or what he looked like clearly, but I knew that he changed about twenty of us during that time. Now most of us were either in clans, or alone. Okay, I was the only one that was alone, but that was for a good reason. I was never good with other people, even my mom and dad. My dad was abusive towards my mother for even giving birth to me, and because of that, my mother detested me. This resulted in me being alone at school and hanging out in my room, either doing homework or watching the other children play outside.

So I'd always been alone. No girlfriends, no one to play football with, nothing. My parents avoided me at all costs, so I would never have a normal childhood.

Once I had reached Seattle, I hopped onto the nearest building and scoured the streets below me. The sun had fallen, so my hiding spot wasn't compromised by it reflecting off of my skin and onto the roads. To me, that was the worst part of being a vampire. Having your skin shine in the sunlight made being an immortal seem so gay. What was it for anyway? I stopped letting my mind wander, and turned my attention back to the homeless in the alleyways. They were dark, and there were large clusters of humans infesting them, so my instant thought was, _how many do I take?_

I was parched, rejecting my thirst for so long that I knew my eyes were coal black, but would draining more than three pull too much attention to me? I spied out the outcasts of the group, finding one easily, huddled under newspaper, separate from the group. I stalked across the roofs until he was directly below me. As I waited for the others to turn away, I prepared myself to attack. But just as I was about to leap, there was the sounds of footsteps behind me. I swivelled round to find Demetri, one of the Volturi guard, standing there with a piece of pristine white paper in his hands. I groaned internally.

"Hello, Edward." He greeted, handing the paper to me. "It's that time of the year again."

This happened annually during October. There was a ceremony that was taken place in the Volturi's castle that celebrated the creation of our kind. I hadn't had much time to revise it, but whilst humans began to roam to earth, there was a mutant among them that could only live on blood. Unable to control his thirst, he took out an entire clan of cavemen within a month, creating about five more vampires when he couldn't finish his meal. That was the start of our kind, and the leaders of all immortals held a party with that first vampire and every other in existence. This involved gathering about one hundred humans, and the first vampire would select the lucky winner who would be able to feed on all of them.

I rolled my eyes at Demetri's comment. "I wish there was some way to get out of this. Throughout my ninety years, I've never won. Didn't James win three times in a row? From 1963 to 1966?" I joked, knowing that he would inform his masters if I was serious. Anyone who didn't show up would be dead within a week. He chuckled as I scanned the elegant handwriting that was handed to me. We were all to attend Volterra in two weeks time for the ceremony, which gave us all plenty of time to fast in case we were picked.

He shook his head. "I haven't gotten the bounty, either. This happens every twenty years; we should all at least get one chance." He frowned, "And because the veggies aren't there, we should all have an even bigger chance. Those two covens being absent all the time must put us up higher on the list." He looked down at the humans I was planning to feast on and chuckled once more. "I'll leave you to your dinner. I just have to visit James and Victoria's coven, then its back to Italy. See ya." He saluted jokingly before he jumped to the next roof, and sped away.

What he didn't know, and what all other vampires didn't know, was that I could read his thoughts. My gift in telepathy had proved useful to scout the daily routines of humans to find the appropriate time to kill them, and to tell if I was in danger whilst speaking to another nomad. When these threatening immortals finally figured out my skill, they were in flames a second later. Pushing away any other thoughts, I turned back to the little hobo that still slept ruffled in paper. I leapt down as soon as the others thoughts were elsewhere, and dragged him behind a dumpster, allowing myself to take a quick sip. This is all the blood I would be allowed to have until the thirty first. Yes, the ceremony took place on Halloween. Ironic, right?

Once he was drained, I decided to make my way to Volterra, and perhaps stay in a hotel until everything took off. I hid the body in the dumpster under numerous amounts of pizza boxes and wrappers, pulled my hood up on my jacket and stomped off, careful to stay in the shadows in case any late walkers realised my vivid red eyes. I figured that if I wanted to make it to the airport without running, I would need to acquire a vehicle. I walked past a hotel, and found myself a packed parking lot beside it. The place must have been fancy, because I found a range of cars that wouldn't have been affordable to someone like the man I had just slaughtered. I sauntered through the cars, searching for one that wouldn't be too conspicuous, yet it wasn't too slow. I came across a Volvo, with a shiny silver paintjob which looked fast, so I decided to steal it. I wasn't someone who knew all the types of every car, so I just went for how fast it _looked._

Well, luckily I'd chosen correctly, because after I had hijacked it, I was speeding off down the road towards the closest airport. It took me about ten minutes to get there, and the airport was open until about midnight, the next flight to Italy taking off tomorrow morning. I managed to book myself a last minute ticket using my natural persuasive powers and the money I had earned from when I was first changed. I figured that if I made enough money, it would hold me for the next century, and it was either buying plane tickets, or swimming to Europe. I camped out in my car throughout the night, listening to Clair de Lune on my stereo. Even though I was a bloodthirsty monster, I still loved the classics.

Finally, the sun began to rise behind the clouds, and I exited the car, making my way up to the gate my flight was to take off from. I passed all the security checks, having only my passport, tickets and some money with me, and boarded to plane. Thankfully, it was still too early for any mothers to bring their crying child aboard, so I was free from most of the sound. As the plane flew, I thought back to last year, and the one who had been chosen.

Being the first ever immortal to walk the earth, Marcus was the one to select one lucky vampire to have the grandest feast of them all. He sits in the center of the room with his eyes closed, and once the order is given, he stands up and stalks up to one of us, taking our hand and leading us back to the center with him. The humans all watch unknowing as to what was happening until the chosen one started devouring the one first in line. A shiver rolled down my spine as I thought about it. Though I was a cold, heartless and soulless creature, I still felt a little bad for these weak morsels. A month and twenty five days before Christmas, they and possibly some of their families were brutally killed. There were even children who attended the castle along with their parents; last I saw, there was a small three year old, left on the ground, coated in blood, her eyes and mouth still open in fear when she was left. Her mother's screams were blocked out when Stephan, last year's winner, locked his teeth into her jugular.

That guy never had a heart. He was one of the only two in the Romanian coven, his only company was Vladimir. Everyone knew that if they could, they wouldn't come to the celebration, but that was certain death, and it's better not to take chances on them finding you. Demetri hands out the invitations as he can track every vampire with ease, which came in use when someone betrayed the leaders of our kind. This was why we were forced to go, unless you had access to a rocket ship that can blast you out into space. Even then, he could probably trace your scent to the space station and go after you.

The rest of the flight was quiet, with only the small snores of the sleeping ones. Unluckily, the sun was high in the sky when we arrived in Italy, so I had to once again zip up my hoodie and have my face covered to avoid making a scene. Once again, I had to steal a car to get to travel to Volterra, so I scavenged the streets to find a bright yellow 911 turbo. I shrugged, and figured that I had nothing to lose. Most of the cars here were a little ostentatious anyway, who would notice this speeding down the street? I hot-wired it and took off, feeling no sorrow for its owner. I flew past meadows and fields filled with animals until I found myself in the walled city of Volterra. I drove to the closest hotel and paid for two weeks stay of nothing to do but sit there and wait for Halloween.

I settled in my room and, for the first time in fifty years, what was I on this earth for?

* * *

**Did you like it? That was just a quick chapter explaining some of the customs in the vampire world I have created. **

**Please review! They make me actually **_**want**_** to go to the boring old library to post these for you :p**


	3. Victor

Over the past two weeks, my thirst had built up until I was almost as weak as a human. My eyes were dark, and my supernatural powers lacking. This is what they aimed for every two decades, to make you unable to resist the human's blood being spilt in front of you. It was their way of picking out the weakest of vampires, as if they were going to build an army, which they possibly would begin to do if any of the covens disobey their laws. And the amount of immortals crowding the earth was coming close to drawing unwanted attention from the opposing race. They only enforced the rule of fasting in 1927, when we were all expecting it. They were killing us off to keep the population down, but that didn't stop anyone from changing more humans.

After checking out of the hotel, I strode within a crowd of people heading for the castle. Their thoughts were all wrapped in what the place would look like, and some were only going to cease suspicions. In fact, there was one old woman called Kaure who was here with her husband, Gustavo. They had both came here from Brazil to see if the stories they were taught as children were true. Kaure's thoughts were running through a checklist of everything she had planned to bring in case the vampires were real. From garlic's to stakes, her pockets and the inside of her coat were full. She had even brought a bottle of holy water and a couple of crucifixes, to frighten the monsters away. _Sorry lady,_ I thought to myself,_ but they're not gonna help you with anything._

As the humans made their way to the castle's grand entrance, every vampire turned left towards the clock tower. This was the way that led to the same hall the ceremony took place, but any newcomers were informed on how everything worked, and to the higher seats were we had to sit to watch Aro, Caius and Marcus greet the unknowing group. The snacks were lured here by the knowledge that the only tours that were given in the castle occurred rarely for a cheap price. They would be shown around the halls, told every secret apart from what we were by the tour guide, Heidi, and then led to their dooms. It was a little fun to play with them.

Before I could step through the old, creaky wooden door that would lead me to where the party would take place, I caught an unfamiliar, but delicious scent. I turned and scanned the crowds, but I couldn't find the source of the smell. It smelt like freesia, and roses. I started to walk towards it, but I was stopped by the Volturi's only human assistants questioning voice. "Sir? Are you alright?" I turned to Gianna quickly nodded, almost running into the building. What had that been?

The scent hadn't pulled me in because of what that blood must taste like; actually, I hadn't felt the urge to drink, despite the fasting I had to go through. I was going to ponder on what it could have been, but I was distracted as I took my seat, and looked around the grand room that I had been in many years ago.

It had a dome like structure, with all immortal beings on a higher circle, and all humans in front of us on the ground seats. The ceiling was made of glass, so the moon could be seen when it reached its peak, and in the center of the room were three thrones, all turned away from each other to make a triangle. Seated on the velvet and gold, were our leaders, Aro, Marcus and Caius, staring at where all the heartbeats were coming from. The humans were suspicious of their positions, and intimidated by the onyx eyes that stared down at them from above. I read each of their thoughts, receiving feelings of fear for themselves and their loved ones, including the accusing thoughts of Kaure as she took in the scene around her.

_God, I knew it. _She glared at Charlotte and Peter, who were part of the American nomads. _Monsters, all of them. But what of that little girl I saw earlier? And her baby brother? Are they so soulless to destroy their lives too?_ I winced at her choice of words, even if they were spoken in her mind. I kind of agreed that we were worse than monsters to kill babies who's lives that have not even started, but if you left out one heartbeat unsilenced, you would be killed. It was against one of the Volturi's many rules, among keeping the secret and attending the ceremony, we must vanquish every witness and part of our meal.

We were supposed to wait until midnight, when the moon light was shining through the skylight and directly onto the first born, but we had a good eight minutes of lecture before that happened. As Aro stood up and greeted the clueless humans, I let my eyes drift around the room. There was a petite woman with long black hair who had come here with her husband and children. I saw that they were the only kids in the room, and from one quick scan of their mom and dad's minds, they were the Cheney family, which live somewhere in Egypt. The mother was called Angela, their father Ben, and the girl and baby boy were named Ella and George. If I were the one to be picked, I would be disgraced with myself to kill them, but it had to be done.

I carried on searching the room, when that intoxicating scent hit me again, harder this time. I inhaled it greedily, and began to look around the room again, almost standing to lean over the bar to find the source. I scanned the humans across from me, out to find the one that projected that smell, and when I found her, it was as if there were alarms blaring in my mind, telling me to run to her.

To say that she was stunning would be an understatement. The word didn't even comprehend half of what she was. She was a goddess, with long chestnut hair that was tied up into a loose ponytail, exposing her neck at the worst time, and thanks to my excellent eyesight, I could see that the glowing orbs inside her sockets were a deep, luscious brown. She was biting on her lower lip in nervousness as she looked at the one explaining the castles history. I tried to get into her mind, to find out what she would be thinking in her last moments, but I couldn't. Her mind was guarded from me by an unseen force, and suddenly I was panicking, for several reasons. She was so pure and innocent, and just downright beautiful, and she was going to be slaughtered within the next two minutes. I couldn't even know what her name was, the name of whose blood sings to me.

I had never believed in such a thing as La tua cantante. Which was another way of saying ones blood sings to another, but now it was all that encompassed my mind. She was going to be killed, and there was nothing I could do that wouldn't lead to death. I was bouncing in my seat as Aro finished his speech, wanting whoever was chosen to at least make her death painless.

"I am so sorry, guests," He started as he did every time, trying to look apologetic. "But there has been a misunderstanding. You are here to serve your part in our little ceremony. We are vampires, and you will all be sacrificed to our chosen victor, in honour of our kind." Gasps erupted from around the room, and few stood up to escape, but were kept seated by Felix and some of the other guards. The woman I had seen earlier by the name of Angela screamed, causing her children to burst into tears. All Aro done whilst he watched this was smile, then he turned to Marcus, he had his eyes shut, his expression calculating. "Now, my brother, pick the lucky winner who will get to feast on this tremendous bounty."

Marcus rose to his feet slowly, carefully as he sensed out this year's chosen. He opened his lids to reveal his eyes. The pupils and the color were gone, leaving the eyeball completely white apart from veins that trailed across it. More screeches were sounded, but he didn't flinch. I glanced at the mystery girl to see her eyes frozen open in shock, and I didn't even know if she was breathing. Humans need air, didn't they? I felt the urge to go to her again, but Marcus had began to stride towards the side of the room I was in, and I looked to my right to see Victoria, James's mate, staring wide eyed as she awaited what she had wanted for so many years. James was the only one in their coven to ever get picked, and I suddenly hated her. I was sure she would get picked, or the other on my right, and if they did, they would kill the girl.

I fought the instinct to growl when Marcus finally stopped in front of us. His eyes were in a clouded haze as the pupil and the scarlet read returned to them, and he said a name I was not expecting to hear. "Edward Anthony Masen."

What? I had been chosen? Did this mean I had to kill the beautiful woman? Aro shot a look at me when I didn't move, so I stood up and turned to walk down the stairs, ignoring the hissing and boos from other immortals in their seats. Once I reached the bottom floor, my hand was taken in Marcus's, and I was taken to the middle of the room. Thankfully, it wasn't customary to take Aro's hand. He could hear every thought that you've ever had with one touch, and if he knew that I was having heavy doubts about killing one of the humans, I would instantly be a dead man myself. Aro looked me up and down and smiled in a creepy sort of way, before he began to perform again.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, I am sorry. You shall all lose your lives, you, and your young," He gestured to Angela and her kids, who were curled up and crying. "But, please know that you are not the first to suffer this sudden fate. Know that you are all honouring our superior kind as you do this." He boasted, and waved me towards the first victim. "Edward, sate your thirst that you have been denying for so long." As soon as he mentioned sating my thirst, he didn't need to tell me twice. I lunged for the human's throat, draining him within five seconds. More screams and cries bellowed throughout the hall at my display, but the growl I released drowned them out. I hated the fasting that they put us through. I really needed more than one body to help me survive the two weeks; it was torture.

I cut through the next ten humans, ending their lives as quickly as possible. I much preferred having them run away instead of being cooped up and trapped like pigs lining up to be turned bacon, but I would take what I could get. I came to Angela's family, and I decided to maybe leave them for last. Perhaps I would be strong enough to put an end to the lives they had built. Just as the thought crossed my mind, I came to the delicious smelling woman who was about twenty people away from the Cheney's. I looked deep into her fearful eyes, trying to decipher her thoughts, but they still didn't come through to me. Aro's words rang clear in my head, _why have you stopped? You have eighty more to get through._

I skipped her as well, knowing that even if I could bring myself to kill children, I would never hurt her. The blood continued to gush down my throat, soothing the burn that had built up, but all I could think about was how to get her out of here with me, or without me. Every guard was in this room, watching me devour every human they had escorted here effortlessly, and every other vampire was wishing they were me. I spied a window behind the girl, and figured that it was my only way out of this. I finished off the last part of my meal, a lanky teenage boy with a cliché Star wars t-shirt on, before I turned to her. I kept a predatory grin on my face to fool everyone into thinking that I saved her for last, but as I reached her, I grabbed her, miming _sorry_ to the family that were now doomed as I flew through the window, making sure that the shards of glass avoided the girls skin.

I ran as fast as I could throughout the city, using the fact that everyone was asleep to my advantage. I could hear rapid footsteps behind me, but I couldn't look back. Just before I could get there, two groups of protesters in red cloaks were coming together in my way. They didn't see me, and they were chatting away, so I sped through them, making sure that the guards would have to stop to keep from exposing our kind. I heard them nervously trying to explain why they were out so late to the humans as I threw the girl in the car I had stolen two weeks ago, and drove off at full speed. She was unconscious, probably out of shock, and all I could think was:

_What the hell did I just do?_

* * *

**Did ya like it?**

**Please review!**


	4. Help

I had angered the Volturi, and as far as I knew, there was no way out on my own. I needed help from another coven to help preserve the wonderful being at lay beside me with her head resting on the window as I sped towards the airport. I figured that I couldn't trust any nomads, since they were mostly all at the ceremony, and even if they weren't, the Volturi would be headed there to kill them. Perhaps the veggies? Would they be able to assist me with breaking almost every law we vampires had? I had only two choices in the matter. The Denali's up in Alaska, or the Cullen's in Forks, one of the rainiest places in the US.

As a pondered on which one to choose, my thoughts turned to the reason why I was in this situation. I barely even knew the name of this girl, yet I was risking my life to save her. There could be guards running after the car, staying out of range from my expert hearing of minds, which would ambush us as soon as we parked. I looked back over to the sleeping angel and groaned, banging my head against the steering wheel, yet not wavering an inch on the road. Why did it have to be so hard to kill her? What was it about this human that drew me in so much? She was an amazingly beautiful creature, her blood smelt impossibly more so, but how did I feel no bloodlust? Earlier, before my feast, I had been weak, my body begging for nutrients, but I couldn't suck the life out of her. It was blasphemy to even think about it.

Why was it that I couldn't hear her thoughts? How could her mind be so silent to me? It was uncomfortable to not be able to know what she was thinking during that horrid scene, but there was also the mystery of how she would react when she realised that I had taken her with me. Would she be grateful, or would she rather be lying dead, having the remains of her blood drained from her? As if she heard my inner monologue, the girl raised her head from the glass and yawned, oblivious to where she was until she saw the scenery around her blurring behind the window. "Wha?" She whispered, before she turned to see me, and her eyes widened with recognition. "God no! Don't hurt me! Please!"

My brow furrowed in confusion, before I eventually realised why she had reacted this way. She remembered that I was the one chosen to end her and about ninety nine other people's lives, and she thought I was going to hurt her. "Don't worry, I won't." I assured her softly, feeling the need to comfort her, yet I had to tell her what danger she was in. "But I'm not the one you have to worry about."

Her eyebrows knitted together in a cute way as she thought about what I had said. "Who's going to hurt me? Actually, tell me what the hell that was back there. I'm convinced to write an article on that place, and when I do visit it, I'm almost killed by a bunch of vampires." I could nearly see the cogs working and turning in her head as she thought over everything that had happened, and probably why I had taken her away from all of it. I sighed, and figured that if I had broken every other rule our kind had, I may as well shatter this one. It wasn't as if I could convince her that none of that had happened, and she was still in that messed up dream. I was sure that she wasn't that gullible.

I let out a deep breath. "Yes, we are vampires, and that back there was explained by one of our leaders, Aro. If you remember, he told you that you were taking part in a celebration of the beginning of all immortals, which happens every two decades." As I let her process this, I let my eyes drift back to the road, uselessly looking at how the headlights uncovered the darkness of midnight. "One vampire is chosen during this ceremony by the first ever one of our kind and that vampire gets to have the ultimate feast. I was the one that was picked, but I couldn't..." I trailed off, taking another deep breath before continuing. "I couldn't bring myself to kill you." In all of my years, I have never _not _wanted to have the blood of any human. I was a bloodthirsty killer, yet there was one item of my meal that I couldn't have. It was like my instinct fought against it.

"How could you not?" She asked quietly, still huddled up as far away from me as she could get. "And where are we going? Why did you save me and who is going to hurt me?"

Yet again, I had no other choice but to answer her questions. "We're going to the airport. Sooner or later, the Volturi will send Demetri after us, and there's no escaping him. I was thinking that we could ask for help at one of the vegetarian vampire clans, because I can't trust any nomad."

"Vegetarian vampires? Nomads? Who's Demetri, and why can't we escape him?" She fired of, relaxing a little in her seat when she realised that I was trying to prevent her death. She couldn't trust me yet, though. I was still a blood drinker.

I chuckled. "Veggie vampires feed off of animals instead of humans, which nomads like me feed off." She shivered at my words, so I was quick to reassure her. "Don't worry! I won't hurt you. I promise." I was even surprised at myself that I could promise such a thing. Just two weeks ago, I was a cold-hearted murderer. I barely ever talked to anyone, I roamed the world alone, and I had no feelings for vampires or humans alike. But now, only after the few minutes of knowing this female, I detested my life style from before. My curiosity bubbled inside me when I realised I didn't even know what this specimen was called. "Can I ask what your name is?" I questioned as we passed a sign pointing us to the airport, I made the turn towards it before she spoke.

"My name's Bella Swan." She whispered. "What's yours?" I almost laughed as we exchanged pleasantries. We had only just discussed the terrifying details of my kind, and yet she was still calm enough to not jump out of the car or scream, but to ask me what my name was.

"Edward Masen," I replied, fighting the undeniable urge to shake her hand jokingly. When she was in my arms earlier, I had experienced the amazing warmth of her skin, and how it almost made me feel like I had a soul again. I decided to ask her more about her life before this terrible incident, but only the basics, since I was sure she needed her rest, and we were nearing the airport every passing second. "So, you said that you came to Volterra for an article?" I questioned indirectly, and I heard her giggle under her breath.

"Yeah, I work for the Chicago Times." Bella told me sweetly. "No one had gone on a tour through the halls of the castle in Volterra, and I didn't know why, so it made me curious. They all warned me that there could be dangers lurking in there, but I never believed them. Little did I know, the entire place was infested with vampires out to kill me." I laughed at how calmly she talked about the subject. I asked her about parents and friends, but when her face turned a chalky pale and her eyes darkened, I left it, hoping that someday she would tell me about them.

Someday? Now I was planning a future with her? I considered breaking the steering wheel with my forehead, but we were already pulling into a parking lot outside the airport, and I didn't want to scare Bella anymore than she had to be scared. As I hopped out of the bright colored car, I scanned the area around us, expecting to find one of the Volturi stalking us, but coming up empty. Would they have stopped chasing us after twenty minutes of running? Probably not. It was only one in the morning, so after running inside to book two tickets back to Seattle, I scoured the perimeter, searching for any signs of danger. Luckily, I found none, but even when I returned to the car, I kept my eyes and ears open, preparing for an attack. When we sat in silence for more than five minutes, Bella's eyes started to droop, so I allowed her to sleep while I waited until seven o'clock for our plane to allow boarding.

I rested my head against the glass of the driver's side, and thought about what I was going to say to the Cullens. They were closer than the Denalis, and frankly more trustworthy, and had more defensive uses to protect Bella. I was going to have to tell them everything, and hopefully give them a persuasive enough argument to break the laws we had to save a fragile human. When I throughly thought about it, I almost laughed at myself. They had two options; One, to help me save a human and probably get killed in the process, or two, shoo us away and leave us to die on our own, saving their lives. Well, that was a no-brainer, really. Still worth a shot though.

I'd always imagined that I would go on forever, hunting the innocent and poor to sate the everlasting aching burn in my throat. I'd never even considered breaking the only laws we had and being hunted down myself by the Volturi. I'd also never deliberated on possibly sacrificing myself for a mere human in the first place. But I could never let Bella be harmed, everything inside me rebelled against it, and it felt like if she was gone, I would shut down, and turn into ashes. It was an indescribable feeling to sense such a powerful feeling so quickly after meeting her, and I recalled any indication to this emotion from the media or general knowledge, the only think I could come up with was... love. And I knew that it was impossible, infeasible and any other word that described how it could never happen, not to me, at least.

Finally, the sun began to rise behind the clouds, and the clock gradually ticked until it reached seven. I gently shook Bella awake, and zipped up my hoodie, concealing my skin from the sun. I we walked towards the gate, she inquired about if my skin burnt in the sun, which just made me laugh and shake my head, telling her that I would explain everything to her whilst we were in our seats. We showed the attendant out tickets, and she led us to first class, making Bella grimace. "Where did you get enough money for first class?" She whispered as we lowered ourself into the chairs. I chuckled, and told her that it didn't matter how.

Once we were in the air, I quietly explained to her every detail of our kind, and about the Volturi. I told her about how pointless our skin was for reflecting sunlight and scaring off prey, to the rules about silencing every heartbeat during the ceremony and keeping the secret about our kind, causing the humans to think that vampires were just a useless myth. Somehow, this delicate creature had made me reconsider my life, all I had to find out was how.

* * *

**Hope you liked it! Please review!**


	5. From the woods

**Alice's POV**

It was one of those boring autumn days in Forks again. We had all had a large hunting trip yesterday, so hunting wouldn't do any good, and there wasn't anywhere to go, really. The ceremony that took place every twenty years wasn't an option, since that was just for nomads; Jasper and Carlisle were in Volterra to speak with Aro as they had to every year, just to show that we still cared about the rise of our kind, even though we didn't want to take part in the blood drinking. Whilst they travelled back, I distracted myself with the strategic game of chess with Rosalie, seeing every one of her moves before she made it. They all knew that I cheated this way, but Rose was the only one that could ever put up with it. She was kneeling on the floor along with me, her long, platinum blond hair concealing her face. "Check mate," I announced in a bored voice. She nodded, and began to rearrange the pieces after adding another point to me on the score sheet, but we were interrupted by Emmett groaning loudly from his spot on the couch.

"Not again, Rosie! You two are just making this day even more boring." He complained, sitting up from where he was hanging upside down, his legs dangling off of the back of the couch. "You may not have Jasper here, but you can't bring us all down." I scowled at him and childishly stuck my tongue out at him. How dare he blame me for being upset when my mate wasn't here, it was a natural reaction. "Don't give me that, Pixie." I let my eyes roll, but I cleared away the chess board and the pieces, allowing Rosalie to be free to kiss Emmett to her heart's content. I sighed and stomped off to sit with Esme in the kitchen. She was planning on rebuilding an old cottage about a mile or two into the woods for me and Jasper. Esme had always been like that, the motherly and caring sort of person. She knew that we wanted more alone time, and she happy complied. She had always been an amazing interior designer.

When I entered the room, she was perching on one of the seats at the island staring at some of her written plans; she looked away from them to smile at me, her curly, caramel hair swishing when her head changed position. "Don't worry. The cottage will be finished soon enough, and then you can get away from Emmett." I laughed at her greeting, which Emmett had of course heard from the other room.

"Stop rallying against me!" He cried mockingly. We both burst into giggles as I sat down and glanced at the numerous sheets of paper that were being used to create my dream house. As Emmett had demonstrated earlier, I looked pretty much like a pixie, my cropped, brown hair pointing in all directions and my teasing attitude. Esme had taken this aspect and designed a fairytale styled home, with a number of roses climbing up cobblestone walls, and a wooden door. The inside would be a little more modern for Jasper's technology needs, but I still loved it. I was about to complement Esme's ideas, but the tell tale fog swarmed over my eyes, and an image broke through it.

It was a nomad, his eyes a vivid red and his hair was an unusual bronze, running through the nearby trees. I figured that he would just be another passerby that we would need to convince to leave the town and the humans here alone, but then I saw a form on his back. He was carrying a human girl who looked oddly familiar. She had her face buried in the boy's neck, her eyes tightly shut, but the color of her hair that was flowing behind her was unmistakable. A mix of brown, red and highlights of mysterious purple all led to one name. Isabella Swan. "Alice!" I heard Esme gasp from beyond the fog, and after her call, the image was gone, and replaced with Esme's worried face. "What did you see?"

I shook my head to clear the fog away, but instead of answering her question, I asked one of my own. "When are the boys getting back? We need to speak with them." Okay, asking that was pointless. I searched the nearby future to find that they were a mere five minutes away. I refocused my eyes before speaking t again. "I had a vision of a nomad coming this way, and you'll never guess who he has with him."

Her eyes widened. "Who?" As she asked this, Rosalie and Emmett rushed into the room, demanding the same thing. The two had ruffled hair, and Rosalie's locks were up in knots, so it was clear to see what they had been doing, even if we couldn't hear every sound that they had been making. "Alice, you know that we need to know what happened! And now!"

I shook my head, and strode towards the front door. "The guys will be here in three minutes. I'll explain everything when we're all together." They all reluctantly nodded, and we all made our way to the couches to await the boys return. As if on cue, the moment we sat down on the pristine white seats, Carlisle and Jasper burst in through the door, Carlisle went to sit with Esme, pulling her into his arms and burying his face into her neck, and Jasper ran over to me, tugging me into one of his somehow warming hugs.

"What did you see, Alice? There's a strong feeling of fear and confusion in here." My love stated, pulling back to look deeply into my eyes. I sighed and turned to the rest of the group, who were all still kept in the dark.

I cleared my throat uselessly before speaking. "I had a vision of a passing nomad, and while that would never really be of any concern, it was what he was carrying that caught my eye." Millions of unspoken questions flitted across everyone's eyes. "On his back as he ran was the one and only Bella Swan, the one that lived here all those years ago with Charlie, before he-" I gulped, and stopped speaking at that. Recognition flashed in their eyes when they understood what I meant. "I don't really recognise the vampire, but I have been recently looking out for any dangers, and I think that this man might be planning to hurt Bella, though I have no clue as to why he's headed towards such a strong coven with her, especially one that is repulsed by drinking human blood. Could he possibly want to share?" I wrinkled my nose in disgust as I named out the possibility.

Carlisle shook his head. "I very much doubt that. Do you have any idea when he may arrive?" I shook my head and he sighed in frustration. "Then we'll just have to be on guard. Alice, you keep looking for any sign of him. Emmett and Jasper will have to run around the woods for a trail." The boys nodded before getting up. I launched myself into the air after Jasper, grasping my hands around his waist. I had just gotten him back after three days, and even though that sounded like a walk in the park for some, it was almost unendurable. He chuckled and kissed my forehead before loosening my hold and bolting out of the door, leaving me there to pout. Rosalie replaced him in the seat next to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I grumbled inherently and leaned back into the cushions. At least she had Emmett for more than two minutes.

The next few days were spent scavenging the woods and the future for any sign of our mystery visitor, but we were constantly coming up empty. There was no trace of a scent running through the thick evergreen trees and ferns, or any of the streets nearby. That was the terrible thing about my visions. They could never pinpoint the exact time that the shown situation would occur. Maybe if there was a clock in the hazy fog, I would at least have the time of day, but no such luck. This strange nomad didn't even wear a watch. Sigh.

Jasper could feel my distress, but all he could do to comfort me was hug me and kiss me. On a normal day, that would be soothing enough, or even more so, but the annoyance of not knowing when to expect something was utterly foreign to me. I had always been used to predicting, or seeing, what would happen next, like when Emmett was about to boast about a massive mountain bear he had taken down, or if Esme needed some advice on clothes, which was by far my favourite subject, but now I just felt emotionally drained. Everyone tried to comfort me, tried to tell me that it must have just slipped through the cracks, but that wasn't supposed to happen!

As if the world could read my mind, another vision hit me like a brick. The casual haze was faster now, concealing my eyesight much faster than usual. It was the man with Bella, again, but this time he was running into the open, and out of the woods, onto the meadow we called our lawn. We were all standing there, prepared for his arrival, and the only way I could be sure that this would happen today, was the fact that Rosalie was wearing the exact same chequered mini skirt I had seen her in earlier that day. When the cloud had faded away, bringing back my sense of sight, I was greeted by Jasper's face, backed up by the rest of the family's figures. I said nothing, but simply pointed towards the door. In less than three seconds, we were all outside on the grass, staring silently into the trees.

Emmett was preparing for the battle of the ages, as it seemed. He was revving himself up to kill like a starved lion, despite the numerous whacks around the head, curtsey of Rosalie. At least he was ready for the moment our unknown trespasser stumbled out of the woods with a pained look on his face. On his back, sat a shivering Bella, her arms wrapped tightly around the man's neck. She peeked out from between her captor's neck and shoulder, and a frown appeared on her face. "Alice? Em? Rose? Edward, what are we doing here?" She asked softly, but the man, supposedly called Edward, ignored her questions.

His eyes were frantic as he spoke. "Can you help? Please! They're probably after us, and she can't get hurt!" He almost cried, still clinging Bella to his back. We were all confused as we looked at him, and I thought that maybe he was going insane. "No, I am not insane." He almost growled as he put Bella down, and let her walk about ten centimetres away from him. I gasped and squinted my eyes at him. Could he have read my thoughts? "Yeah, I tend to do that sometimes." There was only one way to test this theory. _Say the word chicken._ "Chicken." The rest of my family were completely clueless as to why I broke down laughing. To them, he was talking to himself before he decided to say the word chicken.

"Alice darling? Are you alright?" Jasper inquired gently as he rested his hands on my shoulders. He narrowed his eyes at Edward, probably thinking that he was using some sort of power to weaken me, but from what I knew, the supernatural power he gained as an immortal was telepathy. As if my assuming was true, Edward rolled his eyes at my mate.

"No, I am not going to kill her, or any of you, for that matter." He claimed, but Jasper's anger grew rapidly from that one sentence. Carlisle raised his hand to calm Jasper, but it didn't stop him from coming close to snarling. Luckily though, the leader of our clan decided to decipher the meaning of Edward's visit.

"What brings you here?" He asked calmly whilst I tried to keep Jasper on a leash. He was about a year old to this new life, and had yet to get used to his instincts. "And why have you brought Bella with you? Who is coming?" He fired off. Edward's expression revealed that whatever the reason he travelled here, he thought that we would run away from it.

He flickered his eyes to Bella and back to us before he explained. "I was the one chosen at this year's ceremony, and I took Bella away from there. Now, I'm pretty sure that the Volturi is out to kill the both of us. You have to help me save her!"


	6. Stay

**EPOV**

"I was the one chosen at this year's ceremony, and I took Bella away from there. Now, I'm pretty sure that the Volturi is out to kill the both of us. You have to help me save her!" There I stood, begging the vampires before me to help me break the law, and possibly be killed for committing the crimes I was asking them to. Surprisingly, my chance of having assistance had risen, since they already knew Bella, and from their thoughts, they cared for her almost as much as I did. Most of them were still confused as to why I said the word 'chicken', but I blamed the petite girl on the right for that.

The tall, bulky one that looked like he wanted to kill me spoke up after a long, excruciating silence. "So why did you not drink Bella?" The rest of his coven gasped at his words, and I almost did too, so he was quick to amend his mistake. "Not that we're not glad that you did, but most nomads we know just wouldn't pass up on any humans if they were picked at the ceremony, especially after the fasting. So why didn't you?" He questioned, letting his eyes narrow into slits. I had expected to be asked this question, but it was hard to answer it without sounding completely mad.

I inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. "I just... couldn't. Have you ever heard of La tuacantante?" All of them nodded rapidly, anxious for me to continue. "Well, from the smell of it, I think Bella is my _singer._ Her blood smells more divine than anything else I have ever encountered." Before the bulky one could interrupt me again, I explained exactly why I couldn't harm her. "But even though, as a human blood drinker, her blood must have the most marvellous taste for me, the very thought of harming Bella is just... impossible to comprehend." Please let them understand. Even I couldn't thoroughly work out why exactly I felt like this, so I hoped that the wisdom of this coven would help me. But, even in the seriousness of the situation, the pixie girl still felt like taunting me for my gift.

_So you can read my mind, then?_ I nodded my head at the obvious question, trying to keep it hidden from everyone else, but they caught it. _Mm. So, what does this look like to you?_After she thought that, she sends a wave of her and her boyfriend in their room, and I don't think I need to elaborate. I scrunched up my nose, and reflexively shut my eyes and covered my ears. "Make the pixie stop!" She just smiled at me in her mind, still letting the memories and fantasy's she had stored up. I groaned. "I don't need to know what Jasper looks like naked! Make it stop!" I heard the blonde that was standing next to her, which I presumed to be her mate, moan at Alice when he realised my power. From what I could read, his ability was to sense other people's feelings, and manipulate them. For example, he could depress a crowd of overactive people, and convince someone into saying something they had been holding in.

"Alice, don't share them with others, especially strangers." He whispered into her ear, making her giggle, and erasing the actual problem at hand. The bulky one, Emmett, his name was, guffawed when he figured out what had happened.

"Oh, Jazzy's sexual fantasies have been shared with the new kid! Tell me, Eddie, who was on top?" After asking me this, he ended up thrown into the nearest pine tree. "Oh come on, Jasper! You want a fight? You got one!" From what I had gathered within the past ten seconds, those two were childish, Emmett perhaps more so. The leader of their coven shook his head at the disgraces of vampires he had here, and turned back to me. And from what I could hear, he was _actually _considering my plea.

He cleared his throat. "So you are asking us to risk our lives for you and Bella?" I knew this was coming. I reluctantly nodded, feeling like a child sent to the head master. Even though I was twenty two, it still felt that way. "Well, we've known Bella since she was sixteen, when her father passed away," I heard the girl gasp almost silently at the memory. Maybe this was why she told me nothing of her family. "And we also know the hardships she has had to endure. I'm sure that we can find some way to prevent the Volturi destroying her, but there aren't much possibilities of keeping you alive and safe as well." He didn't understand. I _needed_ Bella to be safe, and as much as I wanted to spend a lot more time with her, I could at least die knowing that she was fine.

"I don't need to survive. I just need her to be protected. If the only way for me is to die, then I'll take that path." His eyes softened at my comment, and the unasked questions in his head suddenly began to clear away as answers were found. Unfortunately, there was one person that wasn't so okay with the idea.

"No! He shouldn't have to die because of me!" Bella exclaimed from behind me, her soft voice now rough from exhaustion. She stepped forward so she was face to face with Carlisle. "I only found out now that you were vampires, and though I don't know the rules of your world too much, I know that there must be a way for both of us to live, or just him! Is there any loopholes?" In the corner, the man looked up to me, and asked me if he should tell her. I shook my head discretely, but he fought me.

_If she truly wants it, we have no right to object. You know that the Volturi honour the partnership between mates, and if she were to become..._ I widened my eyes when he mentioned this and the image popped into his head. Bella was innocent and hadn't a care in the world before that dreaded ceremony she was pulled into. She had a job, friends, and a life. I couldn't let her be dragged into this life of immortality, when the days just kept passing uselessly. And even though I was thrilled by the idea of having her by my side for all eternity, I wanted her to at least be able to think clearly first. I violently shook my head again, and he sighed silently, before bypassing Bella's question. I knew that we would have to come back to the subject sometime, but I needed to think first, and so did Bella.

"How about you two stay with us for awhile?" He offered. The conversation that had just taken place was not heard by the human between us, so I was sure she was confused as to why the subject had changed so rapidly, but she nodded anyway, looking back at me with those intoxicating chocolate eyes. Her glare was accusing, making me realise that she may have spotted our little mental conversation, but at least she had no clues as to what it was about. Carlisle gestured for us to follow him to the house, leading us around the colossal fight the ones named Jasper and Emmett were continuing to have.

The Cullen's home was very stylish and modern, which just seemed to be the style of vampires that stay in one place. It was hard to think why they done that. Stayed in the exact same town that they always had, even if they did move before humans could get suspicious. The leaders mate and the other two females followed us inside, letting us take in the richness of the room as Carlisle led us upstairs to where we would be staying. He showed me the only empty room left, and presented Alice's room to Bella, as they were unsure if we would share a room. I fought the grimace when I realised that she wouldn't be in the same room as me, but it was understandable that she couldn't trust me yet, or maybe never.

I frowned at the glass of the window when I thought about that. Emmett and Jasper were _still_ wrestling on the grass, knocking down a few trees below me. Carlisle's theory from earlier on had concerned me. Could Bella possibly b my mate? Was it possible to find that one person, even if they still had blood flowing through their veins and a heartbeat? Before, I wasn't even positive if how her blood sings to me was even real, and before that, I was disgusted by the fact that anyone could have that sort of relationship with another. But now, it seemed like the fog was clearing, and I could finally see why they were all so obsessed with it. She _must _be the one then, if my understanding of the term mate was correct so far. It was a general need for her to be safe and healthy, and though I didn't want to leave her-my instinct fighting against it- I would if it meant that she would live. Really, the situation we were in all boiled down to whether or not Demetri would be able to track us, or if the Volturi guards that were once chasing us managed follow us allthe way to Washington.

About ten minutes after we were shown to our rooms, me and Bella were called downstairs for what these veggies called a 'family meeting'. I guessed that we would have to talk about strategy and alternatives to the obvious solution that would keep both me and Bella alive. She was the only one that had to keep breathing, and even though I didn't need to breathe… Well, you get the idea. If she survives, then I'm fine to die as long as she's kept happy and healthy. We all sat down at the large, oak table, Bella next to me, and everyone else apart from Alice across from us, including Emmett and Jasper, who had finally separated from their showdown. During which, they had shed part of the woods that engulfed this house and its lawn.

"Alright," Carlisle started, pulling everyone's undivided attention to him. "From what I learned from my stay with the Volturi a couple of centuries ago, they don't judge time the same way we do. Right now, they're taking their time to eliminate all of the vampires that didn't show up, and from what people have told me in previous years, loads have been reconsidering the ceremony and trying to measel their way out of going. So they're taking their time to destroy these immortals before they come after you," But, I broke more rules than any of those vampires did. And though I'm happy that we had more time, it made no sense that they leave me until last. "I understand your confusion, Edward." Carlisle said, telling me that my facial expression was revealing what I felt. Or maybe Jasper just told him. "But they work in order. Before you broke the law by leaving Bella alive, other vampires didn't show up at all, and they need to be taken out first." Okay, that made more sense.

Bella shivered at his statement. She still wasn't accustomed to our ways, so the mentioning of death and pain must have disturbed her some. "So, this is what I'm thinking," I almost scoffed at the statement, as I could read him mind, "You and Bella can stay here, so we can figure out a way to keep one, or both of you alive." Bella's the one that would have to live, not me. "Now, Alice sees the Volturi making their way to a large field just outside of Forks when snow hits the ground. We'll advise you until then. And we'll fight with you to keep Bella alive." That was all I was asking.

**Sorry this has taken so long! I have my end of year maths test to revise for and having no internet at home makes me less motivated to write and post these **** Perhaps reviews could encourage me? Please?**


End file.
